In recent years sonic or ultrasonic apparatus have found increasing use for performing operations on sheet material having at least some heat fusible components disposed therein, the heat fusible material being either thermoplastic or thermosetting. In this respect, the apparatus were utilized to subject high frequency vibrational energy resulting from sonic or ultrasonic energy to the sheet material for the purpose of seaming or welding, cutting, embossing and the like. Usually, the sheet material is a single layer which is to be cut and/or seamed or embossed with a design, or it may be multiple layers which are welded together by fusion bonds.
When the sheet material is a textile fabric or the like and at least some of the fibers of the sheet material are thermoplastic or thermosetting components, apparatus have been utilized to provide a seam along a selvage of the textile fabric or a seam transverse to the textile fabric. Additionally, such apparatus have been used for simultaneously cutting and seaming the edges formed by the cut when the textile fabric is cut in lengths for use in the manufacture of blankets, and in this instance the cut and the seams have been made transversely across the textile fabric as it is fed from a beam or the like to the cutting station of the apparatus. Usually the electroacoustical converter unit with its horn and its cooperating anvil are moved relative to the material to make the cut and/or seam, and since the material is in widths of 90 inches or more, the operation of cutting and/or seaming requires considerable time at the cutting and seaming station. In other words, the electro-acoustical converter unit and its horn, together with the cooperating anvil, had to be moved across the entire width of the textile fabric to progressively make the cut and/or seams before the textile fabric could be advanced to a new position for the next operation.